Everton defender Sylvain Distin is ready to put pen to paper on a new contract.

The Liverpool Echo says Distin is close to signing a new one-year contract extension at Everton FC.

The French defender's current deal expires in the summer, and there had been confusion over claims he would not settle for anything less than a two-year renegotiation.

But Distin, 33, has always maintained he was mystified over where stories he was refusing to budge had come from, and indicated in September that he is content to commit for another 12 months.